From 2% to 40% Save Rates: Why Playlists and Meta Ads Work Best Together

I've been telling musicians to combine playlists with Meta ads since day one. So it was great to hear Jason Grishkoff, the founder of SubmitHub, confirm on my podcast that this is exactly what's working for successful artists.

I've seen both sides, as a musician and as a curator, so I know this works. And hearing the founder of the biggest playlist submission platform break down the same numbers I've been sharing was a nice confirmation.

If you only do playlists or only do ads, you're missing half of it. When you combine them, you create the signals Spotify needs to push your music through its algorithm.

Why playlists alone aren't enough

Playlists are great for getting streams quickly and cheaply.

Run a good SubmitHub campaign aimed at the right curators in your genre, and you can hit the 1,000 streams within 28 days that Spotify needs before it promotes your song further.

And when you land on genre-specific playlists, you teach Spotify's algorithm where your music belongs, because your song sits next to similar artists.

But here's what opened my eyes. Playlists usually bring a save rate of only 1 to 2%. Out of every 100 people who hear your song on a playlist, only one or two save it to their library.

That signal isn't strong enough to trigger algorithmic playlists like Discover Weekly or Release Radar.

Meta ads can bring save rates of 40% or more, because you show the ad to people on Facebook and Instagram based on specific interests that match your music. Someone who taps your ad and lands on Spotify chose to check the song out, so they're much more likely to save it.

How to split a $500 budget

Say you have $500 to promote a song. Here's how I'd split it, based on what's working for independent artists:

• $200 for Meta ads. This is where your save rate comes from. In the campaigns on my case studies page, each person who tapped the ad and landed on the song cost between 9 and 65 cents. So $200 brings somewhere between 300 and 2,000 people who chose to hear your song, and they come with the high-engagement signals Spotify's algorithm loves.
• $150 for SubmitHub playlist campaigns. Target 20 to 30 curators in your specific genre. With a decent approval rate you'll land on 5 to 15 playlists, which brings the quick streams you need to hit 1,000 and teaches the algorithm where your music belongs.
• $150 for testing. Your first campaign won't be perfect. Use this to test different targeting, send more playlist submissions, or put more into whatever is working.

The smart part is how the two work together.

Say your playlist campaign gets you 800 streams with 16 saves, which is that 2% save rate. Then your Meta ads bring another 300 streams with 120 saves, a 40% save rate.

Now Spotify sees 136 saves out of 1,100 streams. That's over 12%, a much stronger sign that people love your music.

What happens next

Jason shared the example of an artist who spent $140 on Meta ads and $50 on playlists. That combination got him his first streams, and over the next few weeks he picked up another 7,000 to 8,000 streams from algorithmic playlists, because he had sent Spotify those strong signals.

That's the momentum you're building toward.

Spotify doesn't forget these signals. When you release your next song, the algorithm already has an idea of where you belong and how your music performs. Each release builds on the last one, and that snowball is what eventually leads to editorial playlist consideration and career growth.

Playlists bring the volume and the genre context. Meta ads bring the engagement. Together they show Spotify an artist worth supporting.

Other budgets

• With $200, put $120 into ads and $80 into playlists.
• With $1,000, put $400 into ads, $300 into playlists and $300 into testing and scaling what works.

The artists who understand this are the ones building careers that last on Spotify. The rest keep wondering why their playlist placements never turn into growth.

You can hear the whole conversation with Jason on the podcast. And if you want to learn the ad side step by step, I recorded my full system as Label Level Ads.

A content idea to try: guess the release date

A small artist posted a video asking his audience to guess the exact release date of his next song. Whoever got it right would get the song before anyone else. Then he played a snippet of it.

It's a simple idea. The guessing game gives people a reason to comment, and it promotes the new song while offering something exclusive.